A Veggie Pesto Pasta Bake is just about the best one-pot dish. Easy-cook Mediterranean vegetables are mixed in a creamy red pesto sauce, poured over cooked pasta, topped with tangy grated cheese, and baked in the oven. Just delicious, budget-friendly, and an easy Meatless Monday Recipe.
Pesto Pasta Bakes are so easy and adding cream cheese takes it to the next level. A perfect recipe for using up leftover cooked pasta or vegetables.
For more easy veggie pasta recipes check out my popular Creamy Vegetable Pasta or Cauliflower Cheese Pasta Bake. Vegetarian lasagnes also make great one-pot pasta meals such as Quorn Lasagne or Vegetarian Lasagne with Mediterranean vegetables.
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Ingredients
Gather your ingredients and prep your veggies. Don't forget to check the fridge for any leftovers you can add. See the Substitutions below for some suggestions.
- Pasta - any pasta shapes or short noodles will work. Suggestions include fusilli, rigatoni, penne, conchiglie, shells, or elbow macaroni.
- Pesto - a good quality red or green pesto, whatever you prefer.
- Cream Cheese - I've used low-fat cream cheese in the sauce to keep this dish on the healthier side, but it's up to you.
- Vegetables - onions, red and yellow bell peppers, and courgette or zucchini and spinach all soften quickly. For more suggestions see Variations below.
- Cheese - pre-grated cheese is really handy. However, if you can. I always recommend grating it yourself. Why? Pre-grated packet cheeses contain a caking agent that not only stops the cheese from clumping together in the packet but can make the cheese more difficult to melt.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Cook the pasta in a large pan of lightly salted boiling water until it's almost cooked but still has some bite, then drain.
Pre-heat the oven to 190C /375F/ gas mark 5. Add the olive oil to a large frying pan and over medium heat, fry the onion and peppers until soft.
Add the courgettes (zucchini) and fry for 2 minutes.
Stir in the red pesto, cream cheese, passata, and fresh basil leaves. and season with black pepper.
Stir in the fresh spinach until it wilts. This will only take a minute.
Add the cooked pasta to the pan and stir everything together until the pasta is well coated with the sauce.
Tip everything into an oven-proof dish and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese has melted. Everything is already cooked so we just need to heat it through until it's piping hot and the cheese has melted.
Hint: Remember to drain the pasta when it still has some bite (al dente). The pasta will continue cooking in the oven.
Also, if you have some leftover bread, make it into breadcrumbs and sprinkle it over the top for a lovely cheesy crust!
Substitutions
This is a versatile recipe and a great way to use up leftover vegetables.
- Vegetables - other veggies that work well in this recipe include mushrooms, aubergine (eggplant), broccoli, asparagus, or green beans. Most vegetables that don't need much cooking can be used. Root vegetables are not suitable as they require a longer cooking time.
- Pesto - use your favourite variety of pesto. Red or green, it doesn't matter.
- Cream Cheese - you can also substitute creme fraiche or fresh cream or leave it out altogether if you want a lighter version.
- Cheese - for the topping you can use any hard cheese. A grated or shredded mozzarella is quite mild or you might prefer a grated parmesan which has a much stronger more tangy flavour.
Do remember that most pesto sauces contain nuts. You can buy nut-free varieties such as Diforti's Basil Pesto which is vegetarian and nut-free. I also like this nut-free basil pesto recipe from Karen at FreshCoastEats.
Variations
- Gluten Free - you can easily make this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free pasta.
- Kid friendly - if your kids don't like a chunky vegetable sauce, put the sauce through a blender before or after stirring in the spinach. You still get all the goodness - but they'll never know!
- Spicy - Try using a red chilli pesto sauce if you want to add some extra spice.
- Vegan - to make this creamy pesto pasta bake suitable for vegans, replace the cream cheese with vegan cream cheese and top with grated vegan cheese. There are lots of varieties available. Make sure the cream cheese doesn't have a coconut or sweet flavour. It should be savoury and tangy.
Equipment
You will need a large frying pan to fry your vegetables and a shallow oven-proof casserole dish.
How to Serve
This Veggie pesto pasta bake is a great one-pot dish and you don't need to serve it with anything else. However, a green salad is always a good addition, or some warm garlic bread. You could also top it with some cherry tomatoes.
Sustainability
Building some meat-free days to our diet can help to reduce our carbon footprint. Using vegetables in season and buying from local sources also helps. If possible, try to buy vegetables lose without any packaging. For more tips on eating a sustainable diet, visit my Eating Sustainably page.
Storing, Freezing and Reheating
Pesto pasta bakes with veggies can be stored in the fridge for 2 -3 days. The pasta will continue to absorb the sauce so the texture won't be quite the same. Leftovers can be eaten hot or cold.
You can freeze pasta bake, just let it cool then cover it and place it in the freezer for 3 - 4 months. To defrost, leave it in the fridge overnight.
To reheat, take it out about an hour before you want to eat it so it can come to room temperature. This reduces the reheating time. Cover with foil so the top doesn't continue to brown and bake in the oven at 190C/375F for about 20-25 minutes until hot.
Top tip
This red pesto pasta bake is delicious served cold for lunch the next day so making a little extra is a great money-saving idea.
In order to stop pesto drying out in the jar once it has been opened, pour a little olive oil onto the top of the remaining pesto. Pesto already contains olive oil and the extra oil will help form a seal which will help it stay fresher longer and not dry out. Store the opened jar in the fridge.
Pesto has an olive oil base and you should add just enough so the pasta doesn't stick together and is lightly coated in the pesto. Pesto has a strong flavour so your pasta shouldn't be submerged in the pesto. It is not a pouring sauce.
📖 Recipe
Veggie Pesto Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 400 g pasta shapes organic, such as rigatoni or penne
- 2 tablespoon olive oil organic, fairtrade
- 2 courgettes zucchini, organic, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper organic, de-seeded and diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper organic, de-seeded and diced
- 1 red onion organic, peeled and diced
- 4 tablespoon red pesto organic
- 100 g low fat cream cheese organic
- 500 g passata organic
- 100 g spinach organic
- 1 dash black pepper organic, fairtrade, freshly ground
- 20 g fresh basil leaves organic, chopped
- 200 g mozarella cheese grated / shredded
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a large pan of lightly salted boiling water until it's almost cooked but still has some bite, then drain.400 g pasta shapes
- Pre-heat the oven to 190C /375F/ gas mark 5. Add the olive oil to a large frying pan and over a medium heat, fry the onion and peppers until soft.2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 red bell pepper, 1 red onion, 1 yellow bell pepper
- Add the courgettes and fry for 2 minutes.2 courgettes
- Stir in the red pesto, cream cheese, passata and fresh basil leaves. and season with pepper.4 tablespoon red pesto, 100 g low fat cream cheese, 500 g passata, 20 g fresh basil leaves, 1 dash black pepper
- Stir in the fresh spinach until it wilts, this will only take a minute.100 g spinach
- Add the cooked pasta to the pan and stir everything together until the pasta is well coated with the sauce.
- Tip everything into an oven-proof dish and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes until the cheese has melted.200 g mozarella cheese
Notes
Ingredients
- Pasta - any pasta shapes or short noodles will work. Suggestions include fusilli, rigatoni, penne, conchiglie, shells, or elbow macaroni.
- Pesto - a good quality red or green pesto, whatever you prefer.
- Cream Cheese - I've used low-fat cream cheese in the sauce to keep this dish on the healthier side, but it's up to you.
- Vegetables - onions, red and yellow bell peppers, and courgette or zucchini and spinach all soften quickly. For more suggestions see Variations below.
- Cheese - pre-grated cheese is really handy. However, if you can. I always recommend grating it yourself. Why? Pre-grated packet cheeses contain a caking agent that not only stops the cheese from clumping together in the packet, but can make the cheese more difficult to melt.
Tips
- When cooking pasta for a pasta bake, cook it until it is nearly done but still has some bite to it. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven.
- I've used red and yellow peppers, red onion, courgette/zucchini and spinach in this pasta veggie bake, but you can use other vegetables that don't need too much cooking such as aubergines (eggplant), broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus or green beans.
- I like to add some red pesto to the sauce as I find it adds loads of flavour. I use a sun-dried tomato pesto but if you're after a bit of spice you could use a red chilli one. Do be aware that some red pesto varieties contain nuts.
- For a lovely creamy pasta bake, stir a few tablespoons of cream cheese into the sauce. You could also use cream or creme fraiche or leave it out altogether if you'd like a lighter version.
Storage
Vegetable pesto pasta bake can be stored in the fridge for 2 -3 days. The pasta will continue to absorb the sauce so the texture won't be quite the same. Leftovers can be eaten hot or cold. You can freeze pasta bake, just let it cool then cover and place in the freezer for 3 - 4 months. To defrost, leave it in the fridge overnight. To reheat, take it out about an hour before you want to eat it so it can come to room temperature. This reduces the re-heating time. Cover with foil so the top doesn't continue to brown and bake in the oven at 190C/375F for about 20-25 minutes until hot.Nutrition per serving
The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.
Tayler Ross
I made this pasta for dinner last night and it was so good; so good, in fact, that my kids didn't mind the veggies!
Aimee Mars
WOW! This flavor is incredible. I will be adding this to my weekly dinner menu. The kids ate every last bite.
Jess
Immediately obsessed with this recipe. It is one the whole family loves!
kushigalu
Drooling over this pasta bake. Cant wait to try this for dinner. Thanks for sharing
dana
This is such a nice and quick meal, and it packs so much flavor! I love how easy it comes together, too.